Amazon has ended its six-year legal battle against two former Amazon Web Services real estate managers accused of taking kickbacks on data center deals, reaching a settlement just weeks before a federal trial was scheduled to begin.
The Confession and Terms of the 2020 Lawsuit Resolution
The e-commerce giant informed the court on October 20 that it had reached an agreement with former AWS real estate managers Carl Nelson and Casey Kirschner, thenextweb.com reported. Under a joint statement agreed to by the parties, the two men admitted to breaking Amazon’s code of conduct. However, the statement does not explicitly label the payments as kickbacks or illegal transactions. Other terms of the settlement, including whether any financial compensation changed hands, remain confidential.
“They regret their actions, apologize for failing to meet Amazon’s high ethical standards,” the joint statement noted. Rodney Atherton, a Colorado attorney who established business entities for Nelson and Kirschner, also settled and expressed regret for his role in the conduct.
The litigation began in 2020 when Amazon alleged that the managers took kickbacks on Northern Virginia real estate deals in exchange for steering work to developers. While Nelson was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he was never charged criminally. The legal journey saw dramatic shifts over the years. In 2023, a federal judge dismissed most of Amazon’s claims. But in September 2025, a federal appeals court revived several of the claims, including racketeering and fraud, paving the way for the trial that was ultimately averted.
Legal Battles Cost Nelsons Home and Millions
The six-year legal dispute severely impacted the defendants and their families. GeekWire reported that the FBI seized $892,135 from the Nelsons’ bank accounts in 2020, which included funds earned by Amy Nelson as CEO of the co-working network The Riveter. Although the government returned most of those funds in a 2022 settlement, the family had already sold their West Seattle home, emptied retirement accounts, and spent upwards of $3 million on legal defense while relocating.
“Many of the things that we lost over the past four years, we can never get back. We can never get our home back. We can never get our jobs back. We can never get our reputation back,” Amy Nelson stated in prior interviews regarding the ordeal.
Despite this resolution, the courtroom drama is far from finished. The litigation continues against remaining defendant Brian Watson and his Denver-based firm, Northstar Commercial Partners. Amazon alleges that Northstar secured nine data center development projects between 2018 and 2020 by funneling kickbacks to Nelson and Kirschner. Watson has consistently denied these allegations.
Watson and Northstar Face Trial in November
With the former AWS managers out of the picture, the remaining legal focus shifts entirely to the impending trial against Watson and Northstar Commercial Partners. That federal trial is scheduled to begin on November 2 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
In a recent court filing, Watson and Northstar requested that the judge compel Amazon to hand over the confidential settlement agreement so they can inspect its terms before proceedings commence.
